Just your Average Sunday Hike

I am aware that writing about a current even when I still haven’t written about 4 months ago may seem a bit odd but it sometimes just seems a bit simpler to get it done quickly and keep my brain moving on to the next thing. It is with that in mind that I give you a micro story, complete with pictures, of the little hike that we went for on Sunday.

When it comes to a story there isn’t really much to tell to be quite honest. Craig, Kate and I decided to go for a random drive and figure somewhere out to go for a walk and that is pretty much all that happened! We started driving down the peninsula and kept looking for signs to the many walking tracks that are around the area and eventually found a little track leading down to a beach in the distance. The weather want too great but we were in adventure mode so didn’t really care as we headed down the hill.

One of the best things about being in Dunedin is the views. When you are living your day to day life you can almost forget about them until they suddenly sneak up on you and catch you off guard. This place is only 15 mins drive from my house and I never even knew it existed until we went for the random drive. Heading down the hill the dark clouds started to roll in but we were undeterred with our waterproof jackets and iron will. It wasn’t until we had been walking downhill for about 15 mins that it dawned on us that also meant a long uphill walk back to the car!

A little bit further on the rain started. Luckily it wasn’t too windy and we were all pretty warm from the walk. As we wonder and chatted away we were treated to the most standard of sights in New Zealand, a young Kiwi boy running up the hill in the rain wearing just a thin T-shirt and shorts… Barefoot! The track was full of gravel and stones but it just didn’t seem to bother him at all as he powered his way up the hill, making us look like wimps with our jackets and comfy shoes.

By the time we had got down to the water the rain was really coming down and it turns out that after a year of use my waterproof jacket wasn’t very waterproof any more. Not only that but my trainers and hat also started to leak which is never really a fun time. We only stayed on the beach long enough to take a few pictures and then start our way back up. It was at the start of our assent that Craig pointed to a weird tree and commented “How bad must the wind be out here to do that to the trees?”. These trees look like that had been through some harsh times growing up, that’s for sure!

Anyway after a trudging back up the hill we were back in the car, home, warm and showered before lunch. The perfect little Sunday morning adventure.

Maybe the boy had a point. If you get wet in your clothes the most comfortable thing you can do is get rid of them. If your feet are wet it’s like having a shower it’s not too bad compared to your feet inside wet shoes!